Episode Details

Sis, today we're talking about escaping excessive exercise — because rest is required in recovery.

If you never miss a Monday… if you work out every single day… if you alter your vacations around getting a workout in… if you carry insane guilt and punish yourself later when you miss one… if you skip social plans to exercise, or your routine is affecting your marriage and your family… if you restrict your food on the days you move less —

this episode is yours.

I've been exactly where you are, and I'm proof you can lay this down. My clients are proof. And sis, you can be proof too.

This is so common for women struggling with disordered eating. Why? Because you've learned to cut corners. Cut calories. Take away. Survive on less in every way possible. You've manipulated your food to do it — and you've manipulated your body and your movement to do it, too.

I didn't start out working out twice a day. I didn't start out doing compulsive movements on my bedroom floor just to burn a little more. None of it happened overnight. The disorder built it over time while I ran on fumes.

I was a cardio queen who genuinely believed she loved that life. Letting it go was one of the hardest parts of my recovery — and what saved me was discovering movement that had nothing to do with burning anything. Mindful meditation. Yoga. Experiencing my body for the first time without a calorie counter attached.

And I've watched a client go from 7 days a week at nearly two hours a day… to 3 days a week at 30 minutes. If that feels impossible to you right now, stay with me.

1. Get real with your current routine.
Write it out. How much, how often, how long? Then write out the feelings — what comes up when you don't get a workout in? What's the anxiety like around when you'll fit it in? What rises up in you at the mere suggestion of cutting back? Awareness has to come before change.

2. Understand the power of permission.
You must grant yourself permission — with exercise and with food. So much of the panic around cutting back is really about permission you've never given yourself. What you give your mind power over is what will have power over you. Voice the permission out loud: "I've run my body ragged for years, and I can choose to live differently."

3. Picture your future recovered self.
How much does she exercise? Does she really want to be on a treadmill every single day — or is she at brunch with her family? For me, the honest answer was: I want to meditate. I want yoga. I want to relax. Some days I want to do nothing at all. Ask yourself honestly: is my current routine enjoyable, or is it an obligation driven by fear? (And be ready — there's an identity shift in this one. "I'm just someone who loves the gym" was a badge of honor for me until I got honest about it.)

4. Pick one tangible, small goal.
Get off the treadmill five minutes early. Replace Monday's workou